I retired at 55, and this blog describes my experiences, observations and feelings about retirement.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Olympics and weather: is there anything else to talk about?

Snowy drive to Southern Indiana last weekend

Weather. Weather. Weather. It's part of every conversation these days.

With our trusty cell phones and iPads, we helped friends navigate through an ice storm in Alabama as they made their way to warmer weather in Florida. And of course when they finally arrived, they informed us that it's 67 degrees.

We canceled events with friends because of predictions of ice and freezing rain.

We headed out early when traveling to mom's to avoid another snowfall (and good thing we did since we got 5 inches of snow here last Friday).

We pulled out our lightweight coats when the temps hit 45 degrees, and I finally got to walk outside (while dodging slushy and icy patches on the road).

An Indiana-Iowa basketball game was cancelled when a piece of steel fell into Assembly Hall because of ice and snow on the roof.

And we are now bracing for storms and flooding today as temps hit the upper 50's.

Concrete statue last summer: how it should be.

And next week the forecast is for another polar vortex.

Concrete statue today: covered with snow.

But the Olympics are a bright spot. We look forward to watching the events at night even though we usually know the outcomes from the news apps on our iPads. Even our cat, Blue Belle, seemed to be fascinated by the downhill ski event. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her batting at the screen.

Blue Belle watching the Olympics

Texas primroses on the deck last summer

And I dream of warm days ahead. We plan to build a raised garden this Spring and try our hand at growing vegetables. And I wistfully remember all the flowers from last summer. I remind myself each day that passes is another step closer to Spring. Not an easy thing when I prefer whining about the weather...

About Me

My name is Diane, and I recently retired. I am exploring life after working for 30 plus years in banking and insurance. I love writing and photography, and I thought writing a blog about retirement would be a great way to chronicle this new chapter in life. And I'm starting to get used to the label "retiree", well sort of...